Just A Conquest
by Cymberline
Summary: It's heading towards exam time at Hogwarts, and Sirius, instead of studying for his NEWTS, has finally met a girl he's properly interested in. The problem? She's not interested back. Full summary inside


After years of waiting, James Potter _finally_ had the girl! Remus was happy, working hard and enjoying his final term at Hogwarts. Peter, though he had changed over the summer, was still there, playing his part. And Sirius? Well, Sirius was busy being himself, working hard at _not_ studying and even harder at conquering uncharted waters of the feminine kind.

When the boys return from the Christmas break of their 7th year, Sirius sees his newest conquest - a girl in 5th year he's never met before. When she catches his attention at the Feast, he realises he _must_ get to know her better. The only problem is she's not interested. Try as he might, he can't catch her attention. Frustrated at his lack of success for the first time he can remember, and out of plans, Sirius turns to the only way he can spend any time with this girl - tutoring.

Edith Macdonald, the younger sister of the Macdonald family, really did not like Sirius Black. Never did, really. Being cute really didn't make up for being an arse, in her opinion. Well into her 5th year at Hogwarts, Eddie is heading towards her OWLs at an alarming speed. After a vicious argument with another student, she is determined to achieve top marks in her year, and prove once and for all that being Muggleborn didn't make her worthless. Things are going well for her, her marks are excellent in every subject area- oh, bar Transfiguration, that is. Achieving an 'Acceptable' really wasn't acceptable if she was going to be top of the year. After a rather tearful chat with Professor McGonagall about her options, she is assigned a tutor to help her improve her marks- a certain boy called Sirius Black.

Has Sirius, as a wise man once phrased it, lost his mojo, or can he get this girl to like him?

Enter, and see ;)

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Hello :). I decided to give this a go. Tell me what you think :)

There's a spiel about soul bonding in the start of this chapter. It's got nothing to do with the rest of the story haha.

I don't own Harry Potter. JKR does. Shame about that, hey.

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"Listen to this!" Peter said abruptly. The boys looked up, as Peter read from The Daily Prophet "_A young couple from New Hampshire have been registered and recorded at the Ministry of Magic as being Soul Bonded_"

"Soul bonded?" Asked Sirius, sounding both bored and haughty all at once

"It's when two people touch hands and their souls bond! It's really rare, seen maybe once in a lifetime!"

"Andwhy do we care Peter?" Said James, not looking up from his game of chess with Remus

"Because it's miraculous!" Said Remus, "Soul-bonded people have all sorts of special abilities! That's really interesting, Peter."

James rolled his eyes, "Look, if I cared, I'd have researched this."

"Exactly" Sirius replied, grinning at James

"I was just saying," Grumbled Peter

"Don't worry Peter," Said Remus loudly, "He's just upset Lily hasn't spoken to him yet,"

"She has so!"

"What, did she muttered 'toe-rag' at you under her breathe as way of greeting?" Sirius sneered. Remus laughed.

"Oh shut up, the pair of you. Lily and I are completely different now. We're friends! She even owled me something for Christmas, I'll have you know!"

"One, two, and three…" said Sirius

"Aww" mocked all the boys as Sirius said three.

James' bishop viciously attacked Remus' pawn, "I hate you all,"

"You do not," Said Sirius cheerfully, ripping the wrapper off a Chocolate Frog with his teeth, "You love us dearly and couldn't live without us."

James grumbled something that sounded oddly like, "Go boil your heads".

"So," Said Sirius, "This soul-bonding thing Remus, can it happen to anyone?"

Remus looked at him curiously as he prodded his knight forward to attack James' queen, "Yes, I guess so. Why?"

Sirius shuddered. "It's one more thing to worry about."

Remus raised an eyebrow; "Worry about?" his knight dragged James' queen off the board, "Why would you be worried about that?"

"Well, when I think of the amount of girls I snog a year, I might actually be able to meet this soul-bondee and I have absolutely not desire to do that!" Remus rolled his eyes and James sniggered

"Why not?" Said Peter, astounded, "It sounds wonderful."

"It would take all the fun out of life! And plus, my soul is mine. I don't want to share it with anyone,"

James sniggered again as his pawn reached the back row of Remus' side of the chessboard and he took back his queen, "Coward,"

"Hey James," said Sirius loudly, "Reckon if you soul-bonded with Lily she wouldn't hate your guts so much?"

"She doesn't hate my guts, Padfoot!"

"Oh, leave him alone Sirius," Said Remus lightly, "Let him believe what he wants about his precious Lily,"

Sirius chortled, "Ah, Moony. You're alright, you know that?"

"It's been mentioned," He said dryly.

"Honestly, she doesn't hate me!" James protested, and the other three laughed.

Sirius watched the scenery speed past the window, and he thought more on this soul-bonding. As far as he was concerned, (and he was glad James was absolutely useless at Legilemency) he already shared his soul. He was quite sure it had mostly belonged to James for a very long time now, who was truly his brother in every sense of the word. _"Much better than any brother of my blood"_ Sirius mused darkly. Remus and Peter partook in parts of his soul too, and he was fine with that. His friends were surely the most important thing in the world, and the thought of something happening that could change that was positively terrifying. Maybe James was right, and he was a coward. Sirius preferred to think he was just very loyal.

In a compartment on the other side of the train, Lily Evans was deep in conversation with her good friend Mary MacDonald. The two muggleborn girls discussion was, by no means, light. Having already been attacked on the platform by some Slytherins, they were dreading how hard the rest of this year was going to be for them. The Christmas holidays had provided a much needed break, but they had been darkened by constant reports of people disappearing, odd deaths and freak accidents. On the other side of the compartment sat Mary's younger sister Edith, and her best friend Valerie. They seemed rather unconcerned about having been attacked, and were much more focused on the term ahead, their upcoming OWLS and creating a general ruckus. Both Edith and Valerie were 5th year students, and the two girls sat with a Charms book open, trying to find a way to change the colour of their hair. Edith seemed less interested in this than Valerie (who was pouring over the book) and had taken to studying The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5.

"Alright, Eddie. You're going to be the guinea pig,"

"I am?" The girl replied gingerly, looking up from the book

"Yes. We're just going to do a streak to test it. I'll do the whole head if it looks good. So, hold out your hair please!"

Eddie sighed, and took her hair down, separating off a section. Valerie grinned broadly, and tapped the hair with her wand, saying, "Ceruleus!" The section of hair turned a deep royal blue from root to tip. All four girls gasped in surprise

"Oh, Val, well done!" Eddie said, inspecting it in the hand mirror, "That looks fantastic,"

Val stood back and smirked at her handiwork, "It's not so bad, is it?"

Eddie abandoned the Standard Book of Spells, Grad 5 and picked up the charms book, "So, anyone else want one?!"

Lily smirked, and shook her head, "I'll pass, thanks."

"Hmmm," Said Mary, contemplating, "Can you do a purple one for me?"

"Sure!" They replied together

"Much better than that nasty muggle hair-dye" said Eddie, grinning at her sister

"Quicker and cleaner too," Said Mary acknowledged

Lily sighed and said, "Could you two make yourselves more obvious? The Slytherins will be able to spot you from yards away,"

"Said the red-head," Sniggered Val, "They'll be fine, Lily,"

"I'll welcome the fight!" Said Edith, her eyes flashing, "I'm not having any of their shit this term, none of it! I don't have time for it! I have to beat that Cynthia Gregson at OWLS"

Val rolled her eyes, "Would you forget about that?"

"No!" said Eddie vehemently, "She's a little Slytherin mole! She's arrogant and conceited and she's been going on for years about how smart she is. And I'm going to prove her wrong!"

Mary and Val exchanged identical looks of exasperation, but Lily said, "Aren't you worried about You-Know-Who at all?"

"Pardon?" She replied, perplexed

"You're… you're acting as if everything is so normal, you know?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Said Eddie, staring, "Just because there's some nutter out there who wants to kill me for something I can't change doesn't mean I'm going to alter the way I live. I'm underage, inexperienced and untried. I'll fight where I can, doing what I can, and as soon as I finish school, I'll join the Order of the Phoenix. But, right now? I need to learn. And, plus Lils, I really just want to have some fun before life gets too serious on me."

Lily considered this, and then smiled, "You sound like James. The bit about having fun, at least"

"James is cleverer than he looks," Said Eddie, grinning

"Of course he is!" Said Val, "James is absolutely lovely"

Lily beamed at her, but didn't say anything.

"Are you two worried about NEWTS?" Asked Val, changing a section of her hair a blood red

Lily nodded vigorously, "Intensely. I haven't done nearly as much study as I should have done by now,"

Mary rolled her eyes, "Lils, you've done more study than most of the year put together,"

"She's lying, don't listen," Said Lily very seriously to the two 5th years, "I've got heaps more to do,"

Mary sighed, "I don't even know what I want to do when I finish,"

"All the more reason to study hard!" Said Lily, "It keeps your options open,"

Mary tucked a strand of her now purple hair behind her ear, "I guess so,"

Lily put a comforting arm around Mary, "You'll work something out,"

Mary smiled and nudged against her, "I'll have to in the end," They both laughed

Eddie was eating with gusto at the Gryffindor table on the first morning of classes after Christmas break. Valerie was still sleeping soundly in their dorm and nothing short of a hex would have woken her, and Eddie couldn't think of a single one that wouldn't have gotten her into trouble with her best friend. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were having an extremely boisterous conversation revolving largely around the consumption of alcohol that would ensue if England won the World Cup this coming summer. Eddie rolled her eyes. As if the World Cup was even going to happen, considering the current threat to the Wizarding community. _"Idealistic idiots,"_ She thought dryly. Edith Macdonald acted as if the Dark Lord didn't worry her, because it made it easier for her to pretend she wasn't scared. If she could just be bold enough, be brave enough- if could just be the smartest student at Hogwarts, surely she might be free to go in peace? _"Now who's the idealistic idiot?"_ she thought grimly. Sirius Black threw a sausage at James Potter, who promptly caught it in his open mouth. The boys thought this was very funny. Eddie felt faintly nauseated.

"James!" Screeched a voice "What on _Earth_ are you doing!? Were you brought up in a barn?" Lily Evans came thundering over to the Gryffindor table, wearing a pretty braid in her hair and a dark scowl on her face. James swallowed the sausage with a great gulp, and Sirius and Remus sniggered into their morning goblets of juice.

"Well, Sirius threw it at me, and…"

"And you thought you'd eat it?" Finished Lily with her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised

He shrugged, "Waste not, want not Lils." The boys' sniggers turned into loud and boisterous laughter

She pressed her fingers to her temples and sat down next to him, "Honestly, James. What ever will I do with you?"

He smiled at her, "You'll think of something,"

"Undoubtedly," She replied through clenched teeth.

James watched Lily as she piled breakfast onto her plate with a look in his eyes that spoke only of pure fondness for the attractive, fiery woman on his left.

"What?" She asked, perplexed

"Nothing. You." He replied, going back to his breakfast

"Me what?" She said, more perplexed and now vaguely annoyed

"Just you. I just like you."

Lily blushed crimson from her hairline to her neck, "Oh" she said softly; "thank you" The boys pretended they couldn't hear them.

"I've been telling you for years, you know," He said, perfectly cheerful, "But I think you're kind of hard-headed, you know?"

She scowled again, "I am not hard-headed,"

"You are. But don't worry; it's an endearing quality,"

Lily's scrambled eggs were becoming more and more scrambled as she moved them nervously around her plate, "Thank you James."

"I…"

"You?" The boy countered

"I rather like you too, you know."

James laughed, pleased, "I figured, but I didn't want to push my luck,"

She grinned, "You can't push what you don't have."

"Too true, peanut."

She made a face, "Urgh, James, I hate when you call me that,"

He grinned, "What did you prefer? Flower? Petal? Honey? Sweetie pie?"

"Mate, shut up," Said Sirius, though he was laughing, "Before Lily makes you,"

"Thank you Sirius," Said Lily, acting as though she were relieved of a great burden.

"Morning, Lily," Said Eddie, putting one hand on her shoulder as she passed by

"Morning, Ed!" Said Lily, grasping her hand affectionately, "Where's Val?"

Eddie grinned, "In bed. I'm going to try to tempt her out with an offering of toast," She indicated the toast in her hand, "Morning guys," She greeted the rest of the marauders out of politeness more than desire to talk to them.

"Morning!" Three chorused back cheerfully. Sirius stared at with an open mouth full of sausage. Eddie lifted an eyebrow in disgust and said, "Well, see you at lunch Lils."

"See ya!" Lily replied, and went back to her breakfast

"Ooowaz dat?" Said Sirius, mouth full of food. Lily gave him a withering look. He swallowed and then said, "Sorry, forgot to swallow for a minute there. Who was that girl?"

"Edith MacDonald. She's Mary's little sister."

"Really?" Said Sirius, clearly interested now, "I haven't seen _her_ before! What year is she in?"

Lily gave him a hard stare, "5th year. And you ask why?"

Sirius shrugged, "She's got a certain something to her, doesn't she?"

"She does," Replied Lily, "It's called a brain, and a decent helping of self respect."

"What's that meant to mean?"

Lily shrugged, "Nothing, really. Just think though, Sirius. How many other girls that you've dated have had a shred of either of those things I just mentioned?"

Sirius was watching Eddie walk away though, and wasn't listening. He'd made up his mind. She would be the first conquest of the new term.

Sirius quickly swallowed the rest of his breakfast and set off down the hall to follow his conquest

"Hey! Hey! Wait a second!" He called after Edith as she turned a corner. He ran quickly past her, only to stop directly in her path with his hands thrown out and a wide smile on his face.

"Can I help you?" She asked

"Hello, I'm Sirius Black," He gave her his 'charming' smile

"Yeah, I know," She said, quite uncaringly. She moved past him. Sirius stood for a second, completely confused and then followed her, stopping in front of her again,

"And you are?" He tried again to turn on the charm

"Edith Macdonald. I've been in your house for five years now," Her tone was indifferent, if not annoyed, "What is it, Sirius?"

Sirius was thrown. She was a girl, and he was Sirius Black. This wasn't how the conversation usually went, "I just wanted to say hello."

"Oh. Hello," She said, and then made to walk off again

"Wait, wait!" He said

"What?!" She turned around to face him, "What is it that you want?"

"Well, I was wondering whether or not you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me on the Valentines Day weekend?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "I wasn't aware that had been announced?"

"Well, it hasn't. But if the schools not going, I'll show you a way we can go anyway." He winked at her

She cocked her head to the side slightly and said, "Why?"

He stared at her and said, "Why not?"

"Because you're an arrogant berk?"

Sirius stared again and said, "Excuse me?!"

"You heard me, Black. I don't mean to be rude, but it's only the truth. You've been with almost every girl in the school. I'm not one to be a notch on a bed-post."

Sirius felt he was angrier than he had been in his whole life, "You're turning me down?"

"Obviously. Did you miss the memo?" She said coolly. Sirius gawked, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to drag a sleeping girl out of her bed and make her go to class. See you around." She walked off, her back straight, her walk even.

"You don't even know me!" He called after her

"Nor you me," She called back, not even facing him "I think I rather like it that way."

Sirius Black stared after the first girl who had ever turned him down with his mouth wide open.

"So she turned you down flat?!" Whispered Peter in Charms. The Marauders were grouped together at the back of the room, and were supposed to be pursuing the answers to a set of questions as a group.

"Completely!" Said Sirius, "It was the most embarrassing moment of my life! She's brain dead! I asked her out, and she said no! Any other girl in the whole school would've said yes!"

Remus smirked, "I think this is good for you, you know? You can't go around the rest of your life expecting every woman you meet to fall at your feet,"

Sirius glared at him, "Thank you, Moony. Way to salve my wounded pride."

James pattered Sirius on the back, "There, there mate. Plenty more fish in the sea."

Sirius gave him a shove, "But this is ridiculous! Why wouldn't she be interested?!"

"I think the words 'arrogant berk' made it pretty clear why" Said Remus, his smirk now much more pronounced, "Look, Padfoot. Forget about it,"

"I can't" Sirius hissed, "its unreasonable!"

"What else did she say?" Peter asked, "There must've been something else,"

"_You've been with every girl in the whole school"_ he mimicked, "Good enough for everyone else and not for her!"

"Obviously," Said Remus, writing the answer to question 5. "I'm sorry she turned you down mate, but you really do need to learn not every girl with a pulse wants you."

Sirius ground his teeth as if he refused to believe it.

"Sirius, you've got that look on your face that says you're not going to let this go," Said Remus seriously

"Of course I'm not! I'll make her see that I'm worth the trouble!"

James smirked, "Ah, and you used to tease me about Lily when I was like this," He looked around at Remus and Peter, "Don't you just _adore_ karma?"

"This isn't funny!" Sirius snapped as his friends laughed, "She'll see. You'll all see. I'll think of something. Just you wait! I'll have her by the end of the week!"

But he didn't have her by the end of the week. He hadn't even made progress by the end of the week. The bouquet of flowers he sent to appear on her desk in Transfiguration on Wednesday with the note, _Please come to Hogsmeade_ were sent back to him almost instantaneously with the words, _thanks, but no thanks_ scribbled on the card is small, curved handwriting. She ignored him thoroughly at meal times, absorbed in her meal and her friends and she was rarely in the common room at night, already taking refuge in the library to study for OWLS. On Thursday night when he flew the red paper plane at her from across the library, she had sent it zooming back at him without even reading the note. The sting he felt on his forehead was nothing compared to the sting left on his pride. On Friday he appeared outside her Ancient Runes class, shuffling his feet and ruffling his hair, and she had walked past him without a second glance. Sirius was perplexed. This girl was from another planet entirely. He was constantly asking himself the question, _where did this girl come from!?_ James and Remus were finding this all very funny, and Peter looked upon it partly with confusion (for who could refuse Sirius?!) and partly with pity.

He sat down at dinner on Friday evening totally dejected. He looked at his friends and said in a resigned voice, "I've lost my mojo."

"Your what?" Asked Remus

"My mojo! My magic, my skills with women! They're gone!"

Remus chuckled, "No, I think you're just going for the wrong girl."

"But there was never such a thing before!"

Lily came and sat by James. They smiled at one another, and Sirius realised that Lily might hold the answer to his problem,

"Lily, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Lily replied with a smile, spooning beans onto her plate

"Well, it's obvious you don't hate James anymore," Lily reddened and James grinned widely

"No, I don't hate James," She said, her eyes snapping up to Sirius', "What's your point, Black?"

"Well, how'd he do it? What changed your mind?"

"It's that… well… I just…" Lily stammered over the words and finished quickly with, "Why?"

Sirius sighed, "Because I need to know his secret,"

"Ask him then," She muttered, "What do you need it for, Sirius?" She leaned her head on her hand, "What girl could _you_ possibly be having trouble with?" James and Remus chuckled

"Eddie Macdonald," Sirius said with a sigh, "She hates me,"

Lily laughed, "She doesn't hate you. She's just not interested in you."

"Exactly!"

"What would you even do with her if you had her?" Lily said, her voice gaining a harder edge, "You'd get bored, as you always seem to do, then you'd break her heart and walk away from it."

Sirius made an indignant noise, "How would you even know!? You don't know me!"

"No, but other girls seem to," She replied dryly, "And they say about as much,"

"Oh, so that's it then!" Sirius said in triumph, "She believes all the rumours!"

"What's not believe?" Lily's voice remained dry, "The longest you've dated a girl is about 45 minutes,"

"Actually, it was 2 months. Back in 5th year," James interjected, "Some Hufflepuff… Michelle something?"

"Michelle Birmingham!" Sirius said in triumph, "I liked her and everything,"

Lily raised an eyebrow, "You felt you needed to point that out? It's usually assumed about relationships."

Sirius made an exasperated noise, and stabbed his potatoes angrily

Lily shook her head at him, smirking slightly, "You're not her type anyway, Sirius."

"And why not?" He snapped. His temper was close to the surface. Why didn't James defend him!? Why not Remus or Peter? Since when did someone get to walk into their group and be allowed to talk to one of them like that?!

"You're too much of an idiot. She's… more into boys who don't just run around blowing things up and trying to be cool." Lily said honestly, "No offence." She added quickly

"But, but-" He spluttered, "So were you! And now you're not!"

Lily smiled slightly, glancing at James "Yeah, but I was wrong."

James turned pink and said, "Oh?"

Lily shrugged, "You're not so bad, Potter."

James laughed, "Same to you, Evans. Same to you."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "God, I'm so sick of this banter. We have to bloody listen to it every time we sit down and try to eat a meal. It's sickening, Prongs! Just snog and admit you like each other and get it _over_ with! This little thing you've got going is so _boring_!" The smiles slipped from their faces and were replaced with glares aimed in Sirius' direction. He grabbed his bag and rose from the table, "I'm going for a walk. See you guys later."

Sirius disappeared out of the hall and Remus sighed, "Shall I go after him?"

"No way." James grumbled in undertone.

"That girl's got him really shook up, huh?" Said Peter, "I've never seen him like this."

"Well, it's all new for him," Remus said fairly, "I don't think he's ever really _liked_ someone before."

"He doesn't like her," Said Lily, "He just wants what he can't have, simply because he can't have it."

James sighed, shaking his head, "I don't think that's it Lils."

"No?" She said quizzically

"Well, Sirius loves the thrill of the chase, I won't deny that. But there's just something different this time."

"But he doesn't even know her," Lily protested, "I mean sure, the rejection would hurt. But why would he keep going back to that? She's cute, and he can't have her. That's the extent of it, mark my words,"

"It's not just that she's refusing him that's getting him," Said Remus, "It's that she's resolute about it."

"Exactly," said James, "She's just completely uninterested. I don't think he's ever seen that in a girl before."

Peter sighed, "Well, what's he going to do about it?"

They all shrugged. "Nothing, hopefully," Said Lily, "If she's not interested, he should just move on."

"What if I'd moved on, Lily-flower? And now we weren't friends at all?" James asked her, his voice attempted to be mocking, but his eyes said otherwise.

Lily smirked, "Well, we're different, aren't we?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "Sirius had a point, guys. Get on with it." He threw back the rest of his water, "See you guys later."

Peter grabbed his stuff, "I'm outta here too." He turned to Remus, "Let's go find Padfoot."

James and Lily watched the boys walk away, and realised that it was just the two of them. A sudden awkward silence fell, and they both used that moment to finish their rapidly cooling dinners.

"Lily, you know… all that stuff applied to me" James said finally, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes

"What stuff?" Lily replied, putting her fork down and turning towards him

"The stuff about rejection hurting, the stuff about… well, about just not being able to give something up." He turned to face her, his face serious

They gazed at each other for a moment, before hurriedly looking away. "Oh," She whispered

"Yeah," He replied, turning back to her "But I stuck it out. You always do, when something's worth it."

"How did you know I was worth it?" Her voice was still a whispered, her hands shook slightly

He chuckled, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear "Because you, Lily Evans, have never once bored me in seven years."

She laughed, turning her bright eyes upwards to look into his face. She put her hand over his, "That's all it took, huh?"

He cupped her cheek with his hand, suddenly feeling more daring, "Lily, trust me. It's not a little thing. I have no attention span."

She laughed, "You know, I thought about as much,"

He gazed at her mouth, "Like, right now…I think…"

"Yes?" She prompted,

"I think Sirius is right. There's only one thing left that I want to do,"

And that was when James Potter kissed Lily Evans for the first time.

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More soon

watch this space ;)


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